The trans fat found in your favorite fast food meals may enhance its taste, but watch out: These fats could wreck havoc on your memory.
According to new research from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, men who ate a diet high in trans fats performed more poorly on memory tests, indicating their memory had worsened. Men who did not eat as many trans fast performed better on these tests, however.
The findings are published in the journal PLoS ONE.
“Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory in men during their high productivity years,” says Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. “Trans fat consumption has previously shown adverse associations to behavior and mood—other pillars of brain function. However, to our knowledge a relation to memory or cognition had not been shown.”
Recruiting 1,018 adult men and women, researchers asked them fill out a diet survey, examining how many trans fats they consumed on a regular basis. Researchers also had them take a set of memory tests to test their working memory. Performing poorly on these tests is a strong indicator of memory problems or early memory loss.
While those who ate a diet low in trans fats did not struggle with these tests, it didn’t fare so well for those who did. Researchers report they often performed the worst–especially if they were men under the age of 45.
It did not appear to affect women, however, something researchers can’t explain.
“Including women in the analysis did not change the finding,” says Golomb. “An association of dTFA to word memory was not observed in older populations. This is likely due to dietary effects showing more clearly in younger adults. Insults and injuries to the brain accrue with age and add variability to memory scores that can swamp ability to detect diet effects.”
This hasn’t been the first time trans fats have been shown to have negative health effects. In previous studies, researchers also found that trans fats increased the risk of heart attack, stroke, and obesity, all of which decreased their lifespan. Trans fats are also commonly found in foods with a substantial amount of calories and fat, making it unhealthy for the average consumer.
Not surprisingly, researchers recommend avoiding trans fats–not just for a sharper brain, but for a thinner waistline as well.
“As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people,” says Golomb.
What This Means For You
Want a healthy brain as you get older? Then drop the trans fats from your diet–although it makes food tastier, it could destroy your memory in the long run.
Readers: Do you try to avoid trans fats?
Source:
Dietary Trans Fat Linked to Worse Memory – UCSD.edu
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